Wedding Wednesday: PHOTOGRAPHER!!!

First of all, I had some downtime (OK, I was straight up bored) and I counted that I only have 42 more Wedding Wednesdays until I get married! CRAZY!

Back in my pre-engagement wedding dreaming days I always knew that choosing a photographer would be the hardest part of wedding planning. I am a picture spaz. I always have my camera and I am always taking a million pictures of absolutely everything. I was a photography major for a couple of years in college, so having amazing wedding photos is the number one priority on my wedding importance list.

Shortly after Coffee Buzz opened a super sweet and super adorable local photographer came and spent the afternoon at Coffee Buzz editing pictures. We got to talking and I instantly looked up her website. I was blown away.

Not long after, Sara Jayne was taking custom photos of downtown Minneapolis to display on the walls of Coffee Buzz.

J and I have gotten to know Sara Jayne and her fiance John over the last year and have built a wonderful friendship with them (I can't wait for their wedding in June).

Me and Sara at the Gophers vs Ohio State game

When I finally got my ring I knew without question that Sara had to be the photographer for our big day. She is so unbelievably talented and I have no doubt that she will do an absolutely amazing job capturing our day for us. The fact that we have become friends helps a ton because I know J and I will be completely comfortable around her and therefore won't have any fake or forced photos. A decision that I always thought would be the absolute hardest was actually the easiest. I didn't even have to think about it. I was creeping Sara Jayne Photography's facebook page and have stolen these amazing photos to show you all how brilliant Sara Jayne really is. Sara---I know you read this so I hope you don't mind that I stole your stuff.

Sara has kindly been holding our date since we got engaged, but just yesterday we finally sat down and had our "official" photography meeting, we gave her a deposit and set our plans in stone. I am so excited for the ideas we have for our engagement session and the wedding day! I am so relieved and feel so lucky to have had Sara Jayne just pop into our lives. I swear it's fate.

Please check out her website to see more of her amazingness:

www.sara-jayne.com

And if you live in the Twin Cities, HIRE HER! And then thank me for the recommendation later.

2011 Book Challenge!

One of my favorite blogstresses, Ali, from "Golightly" is committing herself to a book challenge for 2011. Her goal is to read 25 books this year, and I'm going to copy her! 25 is a perfect number because it's challenging but attainable (unlike my 1,000 miles in 2 years goal). Two books a month may get a little tough at some point, but I'm hoping that with my new Nook and the summer pool reading months not too far off I can get it done. Plus, one of my "30Before30" items is to read more, so this will help me cross that off the list as well. I decided to make a "Page" where I can list the books I've read and plan to read with a small review so that if any of you want to join in with me and Ali you can get ideas for books to read!

I am currently reading "Little Women" and have a few books I've been wanting to read, but I need some ideas! What are your favorite books? Have you read a great book lately? Help me get my list filled!

1.Little Women


2.Naturally Thin


3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest


4. The Help


5. Little Bee


6.Sliding in to Home


7. Unbearable Lightness


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25.

It's Time to Bock and Roll

I have been anxiously awaiting this weekend for quite some time and it didn't disappoint. It did, however, start out a little rocky. I woke up and came to work on Friday morning only to start throwing up. After puking for the third time I decided there was no way I was going to be able to work, and thankfully my amazing fiance was sweet enough to come and work a full day so that I could lay in bed and puke all day.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling much better (still trying to decide if I had food poisoning or a 24 hour flu that's going around) and had to get myself ready for Pre-Marital counseling. Our church requires us to take a 6 hour class to ensure that we're ready to take this big leap. I was a little worried because it was a class with other couples (could get awkward) and it was in a church (could get too churchey...we're religious and have faith but didn't want to sit through 6 hours of preaching). First of all, the class was great. It was super interesting. The lady who taught the class has been a therapist for 30 years and was able to use real life examples from couples she has helped, which made the class way more interesting. Instead of just lecturing about what to do and what not to do, she used examples and told stories which made it way more relate-able. As for the other couples, we didn't really have to talk to them. Bascially, Karen would present us with information and then give us a couple minutes to talk it over with our soon-to-be spouse. I left feeling really good about our relationship. I really feel like we're on the right track, we pretty much do everything she presented to us. And, though, I know we're not a perfect model couple I believe that what we're doing is working and this class confirmed that.

After our class we headed home to meet our friends and make the trek up to Bock, MN. Now, I've talked about Bock before, but unless you have been there it's really hard to grasp just exactly how amazing this little town is. It's a town of 106 people in Northern Minnesota. The town consists of a gas station, two bars and a strip club....that's it. Bock lives up to every small town stereotype and then some. A friend of J's parents (and ours) has just been elected Mayor of Bock and was throwing himself an inauguration party at our favorite bar, Roy's Place. When I say he was just elected Mayor I feel like I should explain that he ran unopposed and received 57 of the 57 votes.....quite a feat! Thanks to Roy's Place, my future in-laws, some great friends and Dennis the Mayor of Bock we had an INCREDIBLE TIME!

Me and Dennis (the Mayor) and yes...he is wearing a cape and I crown! What Mayor doesn't?


We love Bock!


J's best friend, Colin, bought pickled gizzards which are without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. I almost puked watching everyone eat them.


Dancing


My pal, Robyn, singing Hey Jude with the band.

We came back home (all in pretty rough shape) and I had just enough time to take a 55 minute nap before I met my mom at Nordstrom to purchase my WEDDING SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the most money I have ever spent on something (besides rent) and I could not be more excited! Unfortunately, my babies are on a plane, train or bus from Chicago so I can't share them with you until they make it safely in to my possession (this is going to be the longest 5-8 business days EVER). After shopping we went to celebrate with a martini and then met my step-sisters for dinner. But, I have to admit the best part of the night was getting a text from J after I bought my shoes that said, "Congrats baby!!!" Even though he thinks I'm crazy for spending that much on shoes, he gets it. He knew I was excited and the fact that he acknowledged that made me love him even more.

I came home with every intention of watching the Golden Globes ( you all know how much I LOVE award season) but I was exhausted. So I am avoiding all Golden Globe related blogs and news today so that I can watch it today when I get home.....you better believe you'll be getting a full recap tomorrow!

It's Hard to be Optimistic When Your Fat Pants Are Too Tight

Hilarious picture frame I got from my Grandma at Christmas playing the dice game.

Be prepared for a brutally honest post. I need to lose weight. I know I'm not fat and most people will say (because they're being nice) "you don't need to lose weight." That's very kind of you, but I do.

Again, I know I'm not fat but I have extra chub that I don't want. I'm not one of those people who can say "I'm curvy and I love it!" I don't! I want to look like this:


Not like this (cuz ew!):

Remember when Nicole was this skinny?!?! Thank God she got preggers and got healthy! Yikes!

But, like this: healthy, toned and preferably really tan!


My weight fluctuates like crazy. I would like to be back my body from Freshman year of college:

Granted I didn't drink then, that's right I didn't have a drop of alcohol until my second semester of college. I was a good little girl and listened to my mom. This probably had a huge impact on my skinniness. I realize this is a terrible picture for showing off my smaller body....but you get the idea.

I was at my heaviest shortly after J and I started dating. Hey! I was happy! It didn't help that we had tater tots and pasta sides for dinner like every night.

I've tried a million and a half times to lose weight. I've tried crazy diets, I've worked out like crazy and I've counted calories. I have found the best way for me to lose weight (and I'd venture to say for everyone to lose weight) is by working out regularly and counting calories. Duh! Weight loss is simple....burn more than you take. Diets don't work. Depriving yourself from what you want will just make you crave it more and when you give in your likely to consume twice as much as you would have if you would have just allowed yourself what you wanted. Which is why counting calories works! If you want to eat a cheeseburger, then eat a cheeseburger. But, if you're supposed to be eating 1500 calories a day and your burger is 1000 then you only have 500 calories for the rest of the day. Period. I am also a huge advocate for several small meals (and snacks) throughout the day! "Ahem"....Future Mother-In-Law!!!!! When I do this, I get GREAT results. My problem is sticking with it. I can kick ass for a couple weeks, then I fall off the wagon. I've been thinking a lot about this lately and trying to figure out why exactly I can't stick with it. Here's what I've come up with:

*Typically when I fall off it's after an event where eating is involved. For example, I was doing awesome after Thanksgiving. I lost 3 pounds in one week, was working out 4 times a week and felt GREAT! Then my birthday came! We went out to dinner several times and I wanted to EAT and enjoy it! Which I did....too much so. Then a week later was Christmas, so what was the point of sticking to the diet when Christmas was just going to throw it off again? And then, two more weeks passed by before I started up again. Those 3 pounds and more have been gained back.

*I really like food. I like to eat. This makes cutting back and cutting things out hard. I can do it, it's been 2 months since I had a pop! But, sometimes I don't want to. The key is allowing myself everything but cutting back. Have 2 pieces of pizza instead of 4. Easier said than done.

*I'm really busy. I work 3 jobs and volunteer with my sorority. A lot of times I need to eat on the run and I am just way too tired to work out. But, I know a TON of people out there are equally as busy and just make time to get to the gym and plan ahead to make sure they are eating right. This is something I need to learn to do.

*I want instant results! I often get frustrated when I don't see results fast enough and then I give up. Similarly, when I eat really good for a few days I think I can "cheat" because I've been so good. Then I cheat again the next day, and the next day and soon cheating is just eating a lot every day.

*Finally, this may sound like a cop-out but I believe it really has something to do with it, I have ADD. I got to thinking that maybe my ADD had something to do with the fact that I love to eat, constantly. For example, I love chips because one bag of chips consists of a bunch of bites, so it takes longer to eat and uses up more time. Thus, satisfying my boredom and need to be doing something for longer. And very simply, when I'm bored, I eat and when you have ADD you're bored A LOT. I found this article online which actually confirms what I am thinking, here are some of the points that stuck out to me:

"Several years ago, ADDvance Magazine, co-published and co-edited by the author and Patricia Quinn, M.D., sent readers an informal survey asking about problems of over-eating and eating disorders. The women who responded did not report a high incidence of eating disorders such as anorexia or bulemia, but did report problems with compulsive over-eating. Many women described a pattern of eating carbohydrates (sweets and starchy snacks) in the evening, not only as a means of reward, but also as a means self-calming or "self-medication."

"Dr. Fleming studied a group of 50 clients who fell into this category. They did not meet the criteria for either anorexia or bulimia, but "clearly had disturbed eating habits, with typically no regularly planned meals or snacks, and an inability to follow dietary plans for any useful length of time." (p. 412). As these clients were more carefully evaluated, it became clear that the incidence of undiagnosed ADD (ADHD) was very high. In fact, Dr. Fleming reported that approximately one third of the clients at their clinic met clinical criteria for a diagnosis of ADD (ADHD). Dr. Fleming is careful to note that this statistic does not imply that most people with ADD (ADHD) have disordered eating, but rather that there is a 'sub-population of individuals with disordered eating plays a major role in the etiology and maintenance of the disorder.'"

This is me to a T:

"Too hungry to wait: Many people with ADD (ADHD) don't pay enough attention to their hunger levels. They may become busy during the day, eating very little, and then discover that they're ravenous - resorting to fast food or high-calorie snacks because it's too hard to wait and eating something healthy." When I am hungry I am HUNGRY, so I'll often eat really fast and eat way too much to get rid of that hunger as fast as I can.

"Skip meals, then binge: Fasting and binging is another common ADD (ADHD) pattern - sort of an all or nothing approach to food. Many people mistakenly believe that it's good to skip a meal, not realizing that they are setting themselves up to overeat at the next meal."

"Don't go on a 'diet.' Many with ADD (ADHD) want "instant results" and are drawn to the most strict and radical diet plan promising a weight loss of several pounds per week. Statistics show that such plans are doomed to failure for the general population, and are even less likely to result in long-term success for those with ADD." Ummm....hello!

Read the full article HERE.

So now I'm 10 months away from my wedding and really wanting to make a permanent change. I don't want a quick fix to look great for the wedding, I want a lifestyle adjustment to help me look great and feel great forever! I'm over getting to a certain number. I don't care what I weigh....I just want to look a certain way and when I get there I'll know it.

I have a couple of things I am starting to do that will hopefully help:

*Plan! This includes packing lunches and planning meals for my day the day before as well as scheduling time to be at the gym. When I know I have a slow day I need to plan to work out.

*Change! I need to change my relationship with food. I need to get to the place where I'm eating to live not living to eat. I don't know how...I think once I see results this will become easier.

*Be realistic! I need to stop setting unrealistic goals and be honest with the fact that sometimes it will be hard and I will want to eat 45 tacos. I just need to learn to NOT...see above.

*Research! I've started reading Bethenny Frankel's "Naturally Thin" which I'm hoping will give me some tips and ideas.


What have you guys done to get the weight off and keep it off? And don't say I gave up this or I gave up that....because chances are I'm not going to be giving up anything....just cutting back.

And, if you're super busy and/or have ADD I especially want to hear from you! :)

If you're like me and you're working on your fitness...head over to Classic Puppy Love and link up with Miss Puppy Love's Fitness Friday! I am!

Thoughts on Thursday

Once again (compliments of my BB) here are the random thoughts I'm thinking on this snowy Minnesota Thursday:

*It's award season! My favorite time of the year! I am seriously OBSESSED with the Oscars and do a pool every year with friends and family. Once the Golden Globe noms come out I start to see the movies in preparation for the Oscar nominations (which are announced January 25th!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Every year I try to see as many nominated movies as I possibly can....I've never been able to do it, but I sure have come close!

*J and I saw The Fighter on Tuesday and it was so good! Way better than I thought it would be. J is obsessed with it, so if you and your man are looking for a good movie to see, I highly recommend this! Christian Bale did an AMAZING job! He lost so much weight, it was crazy! But, wow, what a great job! I hope he gets rewarded for his fabulous work this award season!

*I hope this day hurries up because I am SO excited for this weekend!!! Friday night is me and J's date night, Saturday we have our premarital counseling class, then Saturday night we're going up to his mom's for what is sure to be a ridiculous time (more on that on Monday) and then Sunday is going to be a very special occasion (more on that later as well!) I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

*The Bachelor did not disappoint on Monday. So much drama!
I officially hate Michelle, ugh:


Ashley H still annoys the crap out of me, and Brad really likes her which is super annoying:


I am so glad he ditched this mess of a woman. Cripes, what was up with Melissa?! She's probably so moody because she hasn't eaten in 12 years.


Ashley S. and Emily are still my faves!!!



*Thanks for all your tips, advance and opinions on yesterday's Bridesmaid Dress post! We're going shopping on March 6th and I am SO EXCITED!!!! You know there will be a mega post about that day! :)

*Tonight after work I am meeting up with my BB and our friend Alisha for dinner! We are all getting married within the same 2 month time period (and are engaged to boys who have been BFF since 8th grade) and I can't wait to hear wedding plans, share stories and just catch up in general!

I think that's all I have for today....sorry, kind of a boring post! I just need to get the next two days over with! C'mon weekend! C'mon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!